


Day after day after day…

by AliaMael



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, TWEWYTOBER, TWEWYTOBER 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 6,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26738836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaMael/pseuds/AliaMael
Summary: … Shibuya lives and thrives. And if some people find themselves lagging behind, and some running ahead… together, they walk forward.
Comments: 60
Kudos: 25





	1. Costume

**Author's Note:**

> It's time for [TWEWYtober](https://retwewy.jimdofree.com/fandom-projects/) everyone! Don't hesitate to join in on the fun with any kind of fanwork ♥

"Come again?" Eri said.

Shiki bit her lip, uncomfortable, but forged on.

"I want to make Halloween costumes for Neku, Rhyme and Beat on top of us two."  
"That's… a lot."  
"I know, but it wouldn't feel _right_ to do something without including everyone."

Eri slowly nodded.

"I get it. I suppose we'll need to find a way to make the whole process faster but hey, challenge! I'm always down for a fashion challenge!"

Shiki smiled, relieved. Eri was still utterly confused about the fact she suddenly had new friends coming out of nowhere, and she was a bit hesitant around them, but she had accepted them as part of Shiki's life and was trying her best to include them in _her_ life too. Even if right now she had obviously not thought of them when talking about their yearly tradition of making their own Halloween costumes.

"Group costumes," Eri said, already in brainstorming mode. "If we all dress in similar things we'll have waaaaay less patterning work to do. Feel like being a super sentai?"  
"Uuuuh… not exactly, no. But your idea is good… What about eeveelutions?"

Eri's eyes widened slowly, at exactly the same speed as her grin.

"Shiki, once more you're a genius. This is going to be _adorable_ and _badass_ , I love it!"

Eri grabbed a sketchbook and a pen, then stopped and looked up.

"But you're the one convincing the boys," she added.

It was then that Shiki realized she had put herself in a very difficult position.


	2. Fading

After coming back to life, Neku had needed _certainty_. To know that his friends were alive too. (That they were not just a fever dream.) To know that they all remembered to same mess of a Game. So when they met back at Hachiko, he hadn't been able to keep quiet. He had asked, and they had talked about their memories of these three weeks.

(They had all needed it, to be honest.)

But after that initial reassurance, they had all needed _life_ , and without ever talking it out they began avoiding the topic.

That is, until these last days. Because Neku had noticed that his memories of the Game were… fading, maybe? Not _disappearing_ , but becoming blurry at the edges, losing their sharp corners, smoothing out… He still had the facts in mind, still knew he had been shaken to the core… but the emotions were not there anymore, and the worst moments he needed to consciously look for if he wanted to grab them.

But apparently they were all going through the same gradual change. Rhyme pointed out that without the memories hanging above their heads every waking second, they were way less jumpy, and the friends concluded it was a good thing.

They were keeping the growth, but avoiding the trauma. They had no way to know if that was the normal functioning of the Game or a personal favor, but anyway, they were glad.


	3. Fashion

Alright, Neku can admit it: even if he fought until the end in the Game(s), he might be just a little bit of a coward. At least on very specific topics. Like, for example, trying to restrain Shiki when she's on a Crusade.

Today, Shiki is descending like an Angel full of Holy Wrath upon a poor Beat who apparently committed one too many crime against Fashion.

After a full week in the Game with Shiki, Neku… can't say he likes fashion, nor that he exactly understands trends, but he's got enough superficial knowledge to follow what Shiki says. More or less. And at the very least, that week burnt into him _forever_ to not dismiss fashion as irrelevant anymore. He couldn't bear a repeat of the Pants Off Now Incident. Nor of the Spicy Tuna Roll Incident (and seriously, who the heck even _thinks_ of calling people that?! How is this guy's brain wired?!).

So yeah, Beat is discovering how _utterly terrifying_ Shiki can get, and Neku is not doing anything to help him because he already died too many times for a lifetime, thank you very much.

To Neku's surprise, Rhyme is giving actually helpful insight, which was unexpected given how her style matches her brother's… but Neku knows enough to understand now that this is a prime example of what Shiki means by "fashion statement".

And even if Shiki seems to be entirely focused on Beat, Neku makes a mental note to avoid calling Mr. Mew "Piggy" for at least the rest of the day, just to be sure.


	4. Creature

"So," Beat summarized, "you want us to tell what kinda creature we are?"  
"Pokémons, Beat," Eri corrected. "They're not _creatures_. I mean, OK, technically it's short for 'pocket monsters', so we should be able to call them monsters but… look at how cute they are!"  
"I'm not _cute_ ," Beat objected.

Eri rolled her eyes.

"You might not _seem_ cute at first glance but you totally are on the inside."

That shut him up. He blushed. Shiki wondered what she had done to deserve a saint like Eri as a friend.

"So I say," Eri went on, unaware of her friends' thoughts, "Beat should be a Jolteon. He's blonde, energetic, always ready to fight and a total cinnamon roll."  
"I can see it," Shiki admitted.  
"Wait, why am I a cake?"  
"That's an expression."  
"Neku is easy," Shiki interjected, "he's _obviously_ an Umbreon."

Neku opened his mouth, then realized he had nothing to answer to that. Shiki threw him a questioning glance, daring him to contest.

"Alright," Neku sighed. "I think Rhyme should be Eevee. Totally cute, totally underestimated because she's actually a badass, and has the potential to become _anything_."  
"Fitting," Eri confirmed.

It was Rhyme's turn to blush.

"Now the two of you…" Neku said, looking at Eri and Shiki. "I'm not sure. The easy way out would be to make Shiki a Leafeon and Eri a Sylveon because of the colors, but… I don't know."  
"Hmm… Shiki is definitely the fairy type," Eri pondered out loud.  
"Wait, what?" Shiki squeaked.  
"You're the one doing magic to bring our designs to live."  
"But I couldn't do it without you drawing said designs to begin with!"

Eri shrugged.

"We're both working on the designs. You're still the fairy, I win."

Shiki joined the blushing club.

"Maybe a shiny Sylveon?" Neku suggested. "What color is it?"  
"It's blue," Rhyme automatically answered with the certainty of someone who grew up with pokémon and probably learnt all the evolution lines before her multiplication tables.  
"Shiki would be cute in pink," Eri decided. "And I'd be fine with being a Glaceon, they're so stylish!"  
"While you _are_ stylish, you're not cold at all," Neku pointed out. "I'd see you more as Flareon, warm and ready to fight like Beat," he concluded with a teasing smile.  
"I… I'm not…"  
"You so are," Shiki said.

Eri hid behind her sketchbook.

"I still don't understand why I'm a cake, yo."  
"It means you're cute and innocent," Rhyme explained.  
"… why would a cake be innocent?"


	5. Road

One day, Neku got out of school and took a turn left instead of right.

He hadn't even been aware it was unusual, but he was still close enough to the building that several of his classmates were more or less around and one decided to… point it out. In a way.

"Hey, Sakuraba! Got a girlfriend?"

Neku's thoughts came to a stop, a big "?" floating metaphorically in his mind.

"What?" he said eventually.  
"That's not the way to your house," his classmate elaborated. "Going to see her?"

Neku blinked, actually _paid attention_ to the streets around him and fought to hide a groan.

He was so used to meet with his friends at Hachiko that his feet had naturally put him on the road to the statue. Even if they were not supposed to see each other this specific day.

"If by 'girlfriend' you mean 'statue of a dead dog' then yeah, I guess," Neku deadpanned.  
"Eek, I didn't want to hear that!"  
"You're the one who asked," Neku pointed out, internally grinning behind his poker face.  
"Forget I said anything!"

Neku shrugged and turned to go home. Shibuya's streets had gained new meanings since the Game, weaving a tapestry of comfort and friendship, and even if there were beads of difficult memories he couldn't find it anything else than beautiful.


	6. Food

Eri was aware that Shiki didn't exactly want to discuss how she had met her new friends, but still. She was curious and some things she couldn't help but notice.

"Shiki? You don't have to answer, but did you met the gang in a cooking class or something like that?"

Shiki _stared_.

"What," she finally said.

Uh. Probably a "no", then. Eri chuckled nervously, suddenly finding her guess a bit ridiculous.

"Weeeeeell… you're always bringing homemade food when we meet, every one of you…" She started ticking on her fingers. "Beat is trying to optimize his curry within an inch of its life, Rhyme is definitely testing all the fillings known to humanity and some more with her omelettes, Neku is a sushi master and you made more cookies in the last weeks than in the _years_ I've known you…"

There was a silence.

"You… you're not wrong," Shiki said like she was just realizing they were indeed a bit obsessed with cooking. "I guess we… we just…" She shrugged, embarrassed. "Eating out is fun, but sometimes it's good to have food you can't easily buy, you know?"

Eri frowned.

"Sushi, not easy to buy?"  
"Well, they don't sell sushi where we tend to hang out most," Shiki pointed out.

Eri blinked, thought back of the usual places they went to eat…

"You're right and I didn't even notice. But then I guess Neku provided enough to make me forget it was not from a professional restaurant."  
"He's good at it, right?" Shiki beamed.


	7. Petrify

Shiki was chatting with Eri, a bag full of fabric weighting on her arm. Eri had one too, and they were discussing what to do with the fabrics they had not planned to buy before entering the shop but had loved too much to leave behind.

Then the crowd shifted brutally, separating them. Shiki found herself almost thrown against a wall and when she looked around, she couldn't see Eri anymore.

Someone snickered.

"Hey look, she's still carrying a plushie around. What a baby!"

Being suddenly alone and mocked for having Mr. Mew's head poking out of her purse would have been enough to petrify her, before the Game.

She turned toward the rude voice, threw a decidedly unimpressed look at the boy and cocked her head.

"Well, I'm showcasing my work, which will help me for my career. You on the other hand are proving in a public place how impolite you are, so I'm not sure who's the most childish of us two…"

And before he could answer, she shouldered her way through the crowd, searching for the distinctive pink hair of her friend.

She was done taking shit from idiots.


	8. Handmade

"Come _on_ Eri, show them!" Shiki insisted.  
"Yeah, come on," Beat added. "We're curious now!"  
"Alright, alright…"

Eri opened her schoolbag and produced a handful of small items. Rhyme, Neku and Beat leaned toward her hand to look at what it was; Shiki observed their reactions instead.

"Phone charms?" Rhyme said.  
"Yeah…" Eri muttered.

There were five of them. Each one had two pendants: a star and a little sculpture. Blue star and headphones. Green star and black cat. Yellow star and skateboard. Peach orange star and bell. Pink star and puzzle piece.

"They're all handmade by a classmate," Eri explained, weirdly subdued. "She started playing around with polymer clay and, well… she's good?"  
"It was all Eri's idea to commission her," Shiki interjected with an innocent smile.  
"I– You– It's Shiki who chose all the shapes!" Eri stammered, blushing.  
"And you were still the one to talk about it first. You can take credit for it, you know."

Rhyme was the first to pick up her charm.

"It's lovely," she said. "Please compliment your friend for me. And… thank you, Eri."  
"I… I just…"

Beat grabbed his charm and put a friendly arm around Eri's shoulders.

"Don't be shy now, yo!"  
"Yeah," Neku added, "it was a wonderful idea and you can be proud."

At that point only Eri's charm was left in her hand, and she closed her fist, hiding it.

"I… was not sure I should get one for me…" she said very low, barely audible.  
"Nonsense," Shiki stated.  
"What she said," Neku agreed.  
"You're our friend too Eri," Rhyme added with honest simplicity.  
"So stop hiding!" Beat concluded.

Eri slowly opened back her hand, and maybe her eyes were a tiny bit shining with unshed tears, but her smile was radiant.

"Thank you."


	9. Team

Eri sighed. Neku and Shiki exchanged a glance.

"Eri? What's wrong?" Shiki asked.  
"Uh? Oh, it's not really important, it's just…" Eri shrugged. "Remember Ai and Mina? They fought earlier today."

Neku and Shiki reacted with eerie synchronicity.

"Again?!"

Eri stared.

"OK, first of all, you're seriously creepy when you say the same thing at the same time like that. And then what the heck do you mean 'again'? Since when do any of you two know them enough to say that?"  
"We, err…"  
"We kinda met them," Neku intervened. "Well, more like, we saw them having an argument some time ago, and Shiki pointed out she knew them through you."

He hoped Shiki had indeed known them at least by reputation before the Game.

Eri made a face.

"That sounds like them yeah… Gosh, they're nice but…"  
"What's their problem then?" Neku asked.  
"Well, sounds quite dumb but it's yet _another_ argument. Between Ai and Makoto, her boyfriend. Apparently he's working too much and Ai wants to see him more and somehow they fought about it? And then Mina tried to calm down Ai and she didn't like it?"  
"… I swear these three are conjuring drama out of thin air," Neku sighed.

Eri blinked.

"You _also_ know Makoto?"  
"I, well, yes, I mean, I– it's the guy from Shadow Ramen right? I ate there a lot at some point… and then he got weirded out and I decided to stop."  
"What do you mean 'weirded out'?" Shiki asked.

Neku groaned.

"He thought me liking his ramen was me _hitting on him_ OK?"  
"What the…" Eri began. "Alright, I see what you mean by drama."  
"Right?!"

Shiki started to say something, then changed her mind, took her glasses off and facepalmed.

"Yeah, that's the mood," Neku confirmed.  
"So, what are we gonna do?" Shiki mumbled into her hand.  
"Let me think… Makoto loves Tin Pin right?"

Eri looked at the two of them.

"Wait a minute. What are you talking about? Are you actually planning to _solve their absurd drama_?"  
"It upsets you," Neku pointed out.

Eri blushed.

"I… yeah, but… you don't have to…"  
"We want to help," Shiki said.  
"I've got this," Neku interrupted. "Shiki, how's your acting skill?"  
"Err, better ask Rhyme, she's way better than me at that stuff."

Neku hesitated.

"She's maybe a bit young… oh who am I kidding, that's going to make it even more emotionally over the top and that's exactly what we need."  
"I'm starting to get worried…" Eri commented.  
"No no we're good, listen."

And Neku explained.

Eri looked at him with a mixture of fear and admiration.

"Shiki, I feel like you should have told me Neku was an evil mastermind."  
"I'm not _evil_!"

Shiki giggled.

And so Neku went to chase down Shuto Dan to ask for an autograph. Eri gave it to Mina, explaining she got it so that Ai could make up with Makoto. That got the two girl to (once again) forgive each other.

Meanwhile, Shiki and Rhyme went to Shadow Ramen, Rhyme complaining very loudly with teary eyes about how _sad_ she felt that her (totally imaginary) boyfriend was always too busy to spend time with her, while Shiki made comforting noises here and there and watched as Makoto looked more and more guilty. Rhyme's finishing touch was to go buy ramen to bring back to her boyfriend in hope that he'd be mollified and listen to her _wounded feelings_.

When Ai went to see Makoto, her gift of autograph ready, he had apologies for her.

Beat happily ate the ramen.

Perfect teamwork.


	10. Choice

They are all asked to make choices about their future, even if it's still a long way ahead of them. _What kind of club will you join?_ and _What do you want to study?_ and _What school do you want to go to after you graduate?_ and tons of others, big or small.

Unlike the rest of the universe, Eri is not the last bit surprised when every single one of the four breaks out of the expected answers.

"Screw choices, man, I'll do whatever I want!" Beat says, in what is _pure_ Beat fashion: at the same time missing the point and highlighting it.

"I don't want to decide yet," Rhyme says. "I still have time and I want to try _everything_ before committing to only one thing!"

"Why not _both_?" Neku says. "I don't see why I couldn't go to college to study communication _and_ work on my art. It won't be easy but I know I can handle it."  
(" _Communication_? Who are you and what have you done to Neku?" Shiki asks.  
"Hey, fuck you, it's useful for artistic careers OK?")

"Why not _now_?" Shiki says. "I don't need to wait to start on my dream, and that way when I really need to choose, it won't be what I want to try but what I want to _continue_."

Eri is so proud of them.


	11. Darkness

Sometimes, when sleep eludes her, Rhyme bundles herself in her blanket, turns off all the lights in her room and stand in front of the window, looking at the cars passing through the street.

She knows that it _should_ be anxiety-inducing. After all, she's alone, staring at what killed her alongside her brother. But by a strange twist of the Game, it's not.

Instead, it's weirdly comforting.

In the darkness of her room, she can watch the headlights tracing the buildings and think "I survived this."


	12. Secret

"I'm telling you, _someone_ is controlling Shibuya from the shadows!"

Neku froze, his burger halfway to his mouth. The voice was loud enough to be heard easily above the usual background noise of Sunshine, but he didn't dare turn around to see who was speaking.

Eri's eyeroll was an interesting hint, though.

"Not that shit again…" she sighed.

Technically, someone _was_ indeed controlling Shibuya from the shadows. For some definition of "controlling" and "shadows", at least. The Composer didn't really need shadows after all.

"There's a secret society pulling strings," the voice went on, "and the Supreme Leader basically has power over everything! Most restaurants are in the conspiracy, that's why I wanted to tell you here! Sunshine is safe!"  
"He's in class with me," Eri groaned. "I already heard it all, like, thirty times in the last two weeks…"  
"… and they're preparing the city for the arrival of extraterrestrial intelligences…"

Until then, it had been marginally possible that this person had some tiny speck of information about the UG, but now Neku could relax in his certitude that nope, it was totally unrelated.


	13. Equipment

Eri hummed, taping the point of her pen against her sketchpad.

"Guys?" she asked. "Any of you have electrical equipment?"

Neku, Beat and Rhyme turned toward Shiki as one. Shiki stared back, bewildered.

"Dafuk you wanna do?" Beat finally asked. "Create a zombie monster?"  
"What? No! I just wondered if we could add lights to a dress!"

Shiki visibly relaxed. Rhyme giggled.

"You sounded like you wanted a big generator and power tools," she pointed out. "But you meant things like small cables and LEDs, right?"  
"Of course that's what I meant! Geez, do you really think I'd want to create a mad scientist lab?"

Neku shrugged.

"Well, you could try to turn your sewing machine alive for all I know."  
" _Neku_!" Eri protested.

Shiki tried and failed to contain a laugh. Neku grinned.

"OK, when I get my army of sentient sewing machines you'll be my first target…" Eri promised.  
"I'll die the most fashionable death ever, at least," Neku concluded, fatalistic.


	14. Decorations

"This is _great_!" Eri exclaimed.

Shiki looked at what Beat and Rhyme had brought, dubious.

"Eri, I suddenly feel the need to take another look at your sketch."  
"Uh? Why?"

Neku didn't even bother to hide his smile in his cowl.

"Because," he answered for Shiki, "we thought you wanted to make a kind of fairy tale style dress, with poetic lights, and these are blinking, multicolored _Christmas decorations_."  
"She wanted cables and small lights," Rhyme pointed out, her innocent smile not fooling anyone. (She was totally trolling Eri.)  
"I can work with that, just wait and see," Eri affirmed.  
"… I'm believing her, guys," Shiki said, "and I'm wondering if I should be angry at you now because _I_ am the one who's going to sew this."

Beat flinched, looking vaguely terrified. Rhyme only giggled.


	15. Shop

The gang was shopping. Or torturing Beat. The question was still opened.

Technically, Shiki had decided her lecture about fashion had not been enough and Beat needed concrete examples. Eri was supporting her in this vital endeavor. Beat was too afraid of Shiki to refuse; Neku was following along out of solidarity. Rhyme… well, she was probably there to cheer on Beat. That or laughing at the weird faces he pulled. ("Both" was not out of the realm of possible.)

All in all, it was going well. Shiki had managed to reassure Beat ("I don't want you to _change_ your style, I want you to _understand_ what you're doing and have the tools you need if you ever want to adjust it."), and Eri was lowkey swooning at how _naturally_ her friend was putting clothes on herself to illustrate her different points. (Not that long ago, Shiki was shying away from fitting rooms. It was all gone now.)

But then, at some point, Eri had to ask.

"Guys? You _do_ remember that there are more than four shops in 104, right?"

Shiki tried to cover with talks of "favorite shops" and "habits", but the other three were definitely _not_ regulars of the place, so Eri was left with her confusion.

(Then Rhyme distracted her with a candy shop. It worked.)


	16. Design

"You can't be fucking serious," Neku said.  
"Does _this_ look like a joke to you?" Shiki countered.

 _This_ was not a dress yet, but the general shape was already visible, even if it had more pins than a hedgehog had spines. And, well…

"She did it," Neku said, incredulous. "Eri reworked her design to use these damn Christmas lights."  
"She did. And I'm sewing it. It's the first time I have to calculate lengths of cloth _because I need to match it to electrical cables_."

Shiki sounded more stunned than angry, so it was probably alright. And miraculously, the dress looked good. (Well, maybe not miraculously. When Eri and Shiki committed to something sewable, it happened, whatever the rest of the universe could think about the feasibility of said thing.)

Instead of the original plan where white lights randomly covered the skirt, the colored lamps were grouped on one side of the garment, and Shiki had done some serious calculations to create stripes ordered like a rainbow, with the blinking of the lights making the colors move like waves.

It didn't have the _same_ fairy tale feel, but it definitely looked magical.


	17. Noise

They were all hanging out, and it was peaceful.

Neku and Eri were drawing. Of course, it was not the same kind of drawing, and their styles were profoundly different, but still. It was drawing nevertheless.

(Before, Eri's sketches had been more practical than artistic. It was a way to share her ideas with Shiki more than an attempt to actually illustrate them. Still, she had a good eye for colors and patterns, and so Neku had one day approached her with questions for his own drawing. She had been visibly flabbergasted and _happy_ to be integrated like that, especially by _Neku_ who was still the less social of the group. Now, Neku's art was much more precise when it came to the effects the colors could have, and Eri had won a better grasp on proportions that allowed her to work on smaller details directly on paper instead of relying on Shiki's mock-ups.)

Beat was playing video games, sound turned low, occasionally pausing to point a charadesign or background to the more artsy of the gang, who found themselves appreciating the very random inspiration in that it shook them out of their box, broadening their horizons.

Rhyme was writing. She was not sure yet she wanted to commit to it long term, but for now she enjoyed the feeling of the paper against her skin as she traced character after character.

Shiki was sewing, and the regular noise of her machine was soothing.

And so, even when they were not talking, the little sounds filled the room with warmth. Together, they belonged.


	18. Fall

As fall chased away summer, the days grew shorter and the air colder. The gang slowly began spending less time outside in the street, favoring cozy afternoons and evenings at the home of whoever could host.

Shiki switched cloth and sewing machine for yarn and knitting needles, and soon everyone got a new sweater.

She didn't make them _fashionable_. She made them _personalized_ , which was much better. Neku's mimicked the large cowls he liked hiding in. Beat's was just large enough to free his movement, yet fitted enough to avoid getting stuck in whatever, and Shiki had added patches on the elbows to compensate for Beat's skateboarding tricks sometimes ending with him sprawled on the floor. Rhyme's pretended to be several sizes too large, but the sleeves were actually just the right length.

Eri's was, obviously, the only openly fashionable one.

For herself, Shiki had made a pale green sweater with a Mr. Mew pattern.

(No one said it out loud, but their big smiles were not only because they loved their sweaters. It was also because seeing Shiki find her style and owning it made everyone happy.)


	19. Parallel

Eri screamed, and only Shiki's firm grip on her arm prevented her from falling.

"How the hell does _anyone_ learn this without dying like hundreds of times?!" she complained.

Rhyme giggled.

"Like you're doing," she answered. "With friends helping you."

Somewhere in the distance, the characteristic sound of a skateboard hitting the ground after flying made them flinch.

"OK," Eri sighed, "I feel like I chose the lesser of two evils with rollerblades instead of skateboard. I'm not sure Neku is going to make it in one piece."  
"Don't worry, Beat's got his back," Shiki said.

Eri frowned at her.

"Anyway, why are _you_ not getting bruises with us?"  
"Because I was clever enough to get a bicycle," Shiki grinned.  
"Look Eri," Rhyme smoothly took over, "I know it's not necessarily intuitive but if you keep your wheels parallel you won't have any control at all. When I go forward," she demonstrated, "my feet are more in a V shape."

Eri took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Alright. Eri falls on her ass, take two thousands and eight."  
"You only fell once," Shiki pointed out.  
"Yeah, and that's only because you have awesome reflexes and catch me each and every time."  
"Like I said," Rhyme interjected. "Friends."


	20. Potion

"Hey, guys, want to try that new place?" Eri asked. "It sells smoothies, but with a… witchy spin? They call them potions and give them magical properties and all! Seems fun, and the Prince F'ed it."  
"You're sure you want to go there?" Rhyme asked. "Just because the Prince says it's good doesn't mean we will enjoy it…"  
"You know," Neku intervened, "while it's true that we can't all love the same things as him, he's at least honest on his blog. That's better than some other people would do…"

Eri cocked her head.

"You… talk like you know him personally."  
"No, I just–" Neku tried to deny.  
"Actually," Shiki cut him with a predatory grin, "he did talk to the Prince in person…"  
"No way?" Eri exclaimed, staring at Neku.  
"I… Shiki, don't–"  
"And you know what the Prince called him?" Shiki went on mercilessly.  
" _Shiki_!"  
"OK now I _really_ need to know," Eri said.  
"Why don't we go check that smoothie place?" Neku hurried to propose.  
"A spicy–"  
"SHIKI FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"


	21. Ouija

Apparently, _someone_ in the Bito family had been seriously interested in occult things at some point, given the content of the box the siblings had found stacked on top of a cupboard. Different pendulums, at least two sets of runes (or a very, _very_ extensive one), a tarot deck, an honest to god _crystal ball_ …

"Do you think we could reintroduce ouija as the superior form of Reaper Creeper?" Shiki mused, turning the board in her hands to check its state.  
"You know," Eri said, "I never thought of Reaper Creeper as something similar to this."  
"Asking a spirit to move something on a board to answer a question, and you didn't compare them?" Neku asked, surprised.

Eri shrugged.

"Alright, I know nothing about these, but the _impression_ I got was that… well… ouija was more 'hey spirit come now and answer me', while Reaper Creeper was like 'hello, is someone there? wanna talk?'. I mean, more polite?"  
"Well, you're not wrong about Reaper Creeper," Shiki answered. "I don't know about ouija, though."  
"Guess we'll have to ask a Reaper," Neku deadpanned.


	22. Game

"You know," Eri says, "I think we should make some friends for Mr. Mew."

Shiki hides her smile behind said plushie.

"Are you saying that because you want your own stuffed animal to carry around?" she asks, all innocence and mischief.  
"What? I– No, of course not!"  
"Li~ar," Shiki singsongs.

Eri pouts.

"You know what?" Neku cuts in. "I'm game. Gimme that sketchpad."  
"Neku."

The tone is suddenly laced with steel. Neku gulps.

"Yes Shiki?"  
"If you're thinking of drawing a pig, I strongly advise you to reconsider."

Neku thinks about lying. Thinks twice.

"Yes, Shiki…" he finally answers.

A parrot. A parrot should be safe.


	23. Meme

They're in the middle of a random sidewalk when Eri suddenly stops and exclaims:

"That's it! Feathers! We _need_ feathers for that dress!"

Then she turns around and almost runs in the direction of a shop selling fake feathers in every possible color, leaving Shiki gaping at her back.

"You… you think someone got a meme into her?" Shiki asks Rhyme, who's staring too.

Rhyme considers it.

"Christmas lights," she finally says.

Shiki facepalms.

"You're right. This is pure Eri, no Imprinting needed."


	24. Yellow

"Buttercup!" Eri yelled.  
"A common flower from the same family as the daffodil," Rhyme commented calmly without looking up from her notepad.

There was a silence as everyone waited for Eri to elaborate.

"Uh, sorry," Eri said. "I meant: we have that lovely yellow fabric and so far we had no idea what to do with it. What do you think of making small buttercups out of it to add on a shirt? Maybe we could make other kinds of flower too and create a small bouquet?"  
"That's very… Spring," Neku pointed out.  
"Yeaaaah, but sometimes it's fun to shake things around don't you think? Tons of people long for Spring during Winter so… why not offer them a tiny bit of it already?"  
"Make them brooches and add them to sweaters?" Rhyme suggested.  
"Rhyme you're a genius you know that right?" Eri exclaimed.

Rhyme giggled. Beat grinned, very obviously proud of his sibling.

"Now where did I put this fabric…?" Eri wondered out loud.  
"There," Shiki pointed.  
"Oh thanks! What I would do without you, seriously?"

Shiki's smile was maybe a tad bittersweet, but it was mostly _fond_.

"You'd get lost in a fabric labyrinth," she answered, sidestepping the truth she had witnessed once.


	25. Bag

Somehow, Shiki had managed to convince her parents to invite everyone for a sleepover. They were ready to stack everyone on extra futons, with a pile of blankets to try and make it cozy, and then the Bito siblings had produced sleeping bags.

"Who keeps _sleeping bags_ on hand in the middle of Tokyo…?" Neku wondered.

Beat shrugged.

"We have hoarders in the family."  
"Sleeping bags are _mundane_ compared to some stuff we sometimes find," Rhyme added. "Remember the ouija board."  
"Yeah OK, _that_ was weirder," Neku admitted.

Rhyme cocked her head, thoughtful.

"I still think the weirdest was the box with _seven_ [kendamas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendama)."  
"… someone was organizing competitions?" Eri suggested, obviously not convinced by her own hypothesis.  
"What about the taxified platypus?" Beat asked.  
"Taxidermied," Rhyme corrected.  
"The _what_?" Shiki exclaimed.

The platypus was a source of hypothesis for all the evening.


	26. Friends

At some point, Rhyme's classmates asked her:

"How comes you're always hanging out with these people way older than you?"

Her first reflex was to point out they were not _that_ old, but she had to admit that at their age, it did make a big difference. Only… it never felt _odd_ for her. Not with this specific group.

"They're my friends," she answered.  
"No way!" a kid exclaimed, more surprised than denying.  
"Aren't they your brother's friends?" someone else asked.  
"Your bro seems cool," yet another said. "My sis would _never_ let me hang out with her friends like that…"

They didn't understand, but well, Rhyme couldn't blame them. Her situation was special.

"They're my brother's friends too," she acquiesced, "but not only his. We're all friends."  
"… isn't that weird?"

She shrugged.

"We don't care. We're happy together."

The class decided she acted older than her age and that was why it worked. She just smiled.


	27. Sweet

Beat and Rhyme arrived to their now usual meeting with large bags that seemed overly heavy. Rhyme actually needed help to put hers on the table.

"What's that?" Eri asked.  
"Well, take a look," Rhyme said.

Eri peaked into a bag and froze. Shiki blinked, perplexed, then came closer to see what had stopped her friend in her tracks.

"Holy…" Shiki began before trailing off.

Neku threw a confused look at the siblings.

"It's fabric," Rhyme said with a wink.  
"Oh. This explains that."

The fashion duo finally unfroze, only to turn to the siblings with something akin to _hunger_ in their eyes.

"Where does it come from? How much does it cost? Can we buy it?"  
"We found it in an old chest, parents said we could do whatever with it", Beat said.  
"We… can have it?" Shiki asked, incredulous.  
"Why do you think we brought it here?" Rhyme smiled.  
"Sweet!" Shiki exclaimed while Eri did a little happy dance.

Then Eri pulled Beat into a hug and the scene turned into joyful chaos.


	28. Winner

The Wild Boar shop in Udagawa was organizing a skating competition. At Rhyme's gentle insistence, Beat had signed up. The prize –a nice array of items to upkeep one's board– was interesting, true, but he was more participating to see what he could do.

The whole gang was there, cheering for him. It was… strange, but in a good way.

In the end, he was proud of his performance, which was also new and weird and _awesome_.

Then the organizer stepped forward.

"Alright everyone, today our winner is Daisukeno–"  
"BWAAAAAH!"


	29. Switch

"Shiki, you _really_ should turn on the light," Rhyme said. "How are you even seeing your thread?"  
"'m good," Shiki answered distractedly.

Rhyme was obviously not convinced. Five minutes later, the room was even darker, and Neku decided to intervene.

"Shiki? You're going to hurt your eyes if–"  
"Why don't you go and turn on the light _yourself_?" Shiki asked, annoyed.

But she didn't wait for an answer. The light suddenly flooded the room, leaving Neku and Rhyme gaping at her.

"Did you just… _throw Mr. Mew at the light switch_?" Neku said.  
"She does that sometimes," Eri commented.  
"Well, it works," Shiki pointed out.

Neku made the mental note that Shiki armed with her Piggy was still an utter badass even in the RG.


	30. Black

"No," Eri said.  
"Aw, come on," Beat insisted.  
"I said _no_. I won't go back on these damn wheels, I swear I almost broke every bone in my body the last time!"  
"You only fell _once_ ," Shiki pointed out, rolling her eyes.  
"Yeah and I was _this_ close to meet the wall how many times?"  
"But you didn't," Rhyme smiled kindly.

Eri threw her hands up.

"When I come back home with a black eye from rolling straight into a lamp post, you're explaining it to my parents!"  
"Deal," Neku said.  
"… Fuck. I didn't think you'd take it," Eri admitted.

Neku grinned. Shiki produced the rollerblades out of thin air and Beat put an arm around Eri's shoulders, preventing her from bolting out.

" _Fine_ ," she sighed.

(It was faint, but she was smiling, so it was alright.)


	31. Game Over

When they looked back at what their lives had been not even _that_ long ago, they almost couldn't believe it.

Everything was so much better now. Because they were _together_ , and together they could take on everything.

Of course, some days it was almost overwhelming, but none of them would want the past back. They had fought for this, and they were glad.

Now that enough time had passed, that they were not trying to get back on their feet anymore, that they were firmly conscious of what they had… they could say it.

The Game was over, and their lives had begun.


End file.
